Alyin b



ALVIN B. CLARK AND GHARLESDAVIS, oFnIoHMoND, INDIANA.Y

.Letters Patent No. 74,502, dated February 18, 1S68.

IMPROVED WASHING-MAGHINE.

dige Segnale-nient to in tten ndert @anni mit mating am ut the nmz.

To ALI. WHoM IT MAY ooNeEnN:

Be Ait known that we', ALVIN B. CLARK and CHARLES DAVIS, of the city ofRichmond, and Sta-te of Indiana, have invented a new and usefulImprovement-in Washing-Machines; and we do hereby declare thattheffollowing is a. full, clearfnnd exact description'of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings,A making a. part ofthis specification, in Which-e- Figure 1 is aperspectit'e View, y

Figure 2 isa. horizontal section, and

Figure 3 a. longitudinal section.

Thesame letters, in the diiferent figures, relate to correspondingpartsif the invention.

Our invention relates to e. washing-machine, withvwhich the operation ofwashing is performed by machinery, in a. manner closely imitating thesame operation as performed by hand. The rubbing, as when 'done by hand,may be applied to any particular portion of the clothing requiringextra. labor. i

Tp enable others skilled inthe art to make and use our invention, wewill proceed to describe its construction and operation. j

A represents a rectangular box or tank, which, for convenience, issnpported'on legs. B and B represent beams, attached rigidly togsaidtank, for the purpose of supporting the extending-mechanism. Anordinair/yr wash-board, or other corrugated device, is secured,temporarily or permanently, on the stationary platform y, which latteris fixed .to the sides vof the tank.V a represents a. roller, havingitsjournal-benrings, S and S, in the hangers L and Zz. d and d arereciprocating rods, 4having their bearings at t and t and u and u. '.Atransverse rdd or section of the same rods, connects them at end ce. Tothe front ends of said rods.are attached thehangers ZI and 6'.' Drepresents a crank-shaft, linked with pitman n to rod x. e and e'are`ratchets attached to the ends of roller a. I and I represent pawls tha'tengage with said ratchets, the `pawls being hinged to rod x. g rep-Vresents stay-rods connecting pawls I and I. V and Y are spiral springsacting on the journals of roller a, by

which the pressure of the latter is modied.

The power is applied by means of crank r, thus imparting a reciprocatingmotion to rods d and d, by which roller a 'is made to traversewash-board C. In its forward motion, roller a is prevented from rotatingby the action of ratchets e and e', but is'allow'ed to rotate at thereturn stroke. Thus the clothing, after being placed by the operator onthe wash-board, and Within reach of roller a, is gradually Acarried,through by the friction 'of said roller, as it slides over the surfaceof the board at each alternate stroke, and thus rubbing 'the clothing ina manner very similar to that of hand-washing. By a slight pressure ofthe hand on the garment, it may he stopped from feeding, and thus therubbing is applied as long as necessary to any particular spot requiringextra labor. The lposition of the wash-board or corrugatedL surface C'is inclined, with its rear end below the horizontal, ,thus fa'lvoringthe feeding-operation of roller a. A frictionrpller,'m, is attached tothe front end o the wash-board, or to the sides ot' tank A,'in a.suitable position, over which the clothing is lifted, from the bottom ofsaid tank, thus'also favoring the feeding-operation. The position of thebottom of tank Ais inclining, the front end being the lowest, thussliding the clothing back to the front of syaid tank, as-it falls fromthe Wash-board. The inclination oi' the bottom also serves to run allthe water tothe front of said tank, thus requiring lesswater than wouldotherwise be necessary for the opera-tion. y

Having thus fully described our-said invention, what we claim, anddesire to secure' by Letters Patent, is

1. We claim, in combination with wash-board G, (or other suitablesurface,) the roller a, rotating and sliding at cach alternate stroke,substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

2. We claim the combination of' the reciprocating rods d and d, hangersI1 and b', springs Y and V, ratchets e, and pawls I, with roller a andboard C, all operating substantially as described and for the purposeset forth.

ALVIN B. CLARK, CHARLES DAVIS.

Witnesses:

SAMI. G. DUGDALE, Josera Rines.

